Emmelie de Forest

Emmelie de Forest, full name Emmelie Charlotte-Victoria de Forest, is a Danish-Swedish singer, songwriter and actress born on 28 February 1993 in Randers, Denmark.

She grew up in Mariager with her Danish mother and Swedish father, Ingvar, and also spent a large part of her childhood in Stockholm. She now resides in the Danish capital, Copenhagen.

She represented Denmark with the song Only Teardrops at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, Sweden, winning the contest with 281 points. This victory was the first for Denmark since that of the Olsen Brothers in 2000.

At the age of 14, she began singing in the Steve Cameron’s Gospel Choir in Hadsund, where she obtained several solo parts. This led to a contract with Steve Cameron and the opportunity to lead the choir.

She recorded her first album in 2007, followed by a second in 2008, both focused on classic rock, folk and blues. Her music is associated with genres such as pop and Eurovision.

Emmelie de Forest claims to be the great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria, her grandfather, Count Maurice Arnold de Forest, allegedly being an illegitimate child of King Edward VII. Her grandfather later married into the Swedish nobility, the Armfelt family.